A farmer in the Virden area says despite some excess moisture in low lying areas his crops look really good.

Darren Chapman says they’ve done okay on his farm when it comes to rainfall and emergence. “We’ve done alright when it comes to the amounts of rainfall. We had a big amount in mid June and those fields were wet when we seeded them and we probably lost just about half of those fields but we’re still sitting pretty good compared with some other areas.”

He says they’ve managed to avoid most of the heavy rainfall.

Manitoba Agriculture reports that good weather last week allowed widespread herbicide application in Western Manitoba. A large storm system entered the region Sunday night, resulting in significant rainfall into Monday. Fields in the region are seeing drowned out and saturated areas on the foot slope and low areas of fields, leading to crop stress and chlorosis, but lush crop growth on the mid to upper field slopes for the most part.

Herbicide spraying is 90% done in the region, with generally good weed control. However, glyphosate-resistant kochia patches are becoming more noticeable and widespread.

“The cattle are enjoying the pastures that’s for sure. You have to be careful when you’re checking the cattle that you don’t run over anyone because it’s so tall. Hay fields we haven’t seen stands like this for years because we haven’t good spring rains for a few years” said Darren Chapman.